Crisis Intervention Team

The Brookline Police Department places a strong emphasis on addressing the needs of the most vulnerable members of our community, that is, individuals and family members who are struggling with mental illness. In an effort to increase our levels of understanding and compassion, the entire department, including our Public Safety Dispatchers, have received eight hours of training in Mental Health First Aid. Several years ago, at its inception, 53 officers volunteered to join the Crisis Intervention Team, an integrated unit specially trained to respond to individuals with acute mental health needs. The forty additional hours of training that each of these officers received focused on recognition of mental illness, de-escalation techniques and the benefits of follow-up care. The national model suggests that a successful CIT program will have trained 20-25% of its officers, The Brookline Police Department is proud to announce that all of our Officers and Supervisors have now completed this training. In addition to the standard CIT training, several of our officers have attended an additional one-day advanced CIT training.  

Our CIT is a true community partnership, whose primary objective is to promote communication and enhance the response of public and private agencies when summoned to intervene with individuals who are mentally ill, developmentally disabled, struggling with substance abuse or experiencing trauma in their lives. Our community partners include DMH, NAMI Massachusetts, The Brookline Community Mental Health Center, BEST (Boston Emergency Services Team), Brookline District Court, Brookline Council on Aging, Brookline School Department, Brookline Housing Authority, The Office of Veterans Affairs, Bournewood Hospital and Arbor-HRI.

To learn more about the CIT program, or to find out about an upcoming Community Stakeholder Meeting please call or email the teams leaders. Additionally more information can be found at the Norfolk County Crisis Intervention Team's website.

Deputy Superintendent Jennifer Paster

617-264-6437
jpaster@brooklinema.gov

Sergeant Chris Malinn

617-730-2240
cmalinn@brooklinema.gov

LCSW Annabel Lane

617-730-2245
alane@brooklinema.gov